Monday, July 29, 2013

The abrupt departure of the head of Milwaukee County's minority contracting office drew criticism from county supervisors, who said the move appeared to be payback by County Executive Chris Abele.

Nelson Soler held the post for just short of one year. He was appointed by County Board Chairwoman Marina Dimitrijevic to run the county's Community Development Business Partners office after the former head was arrested and accused of taking a kickback and approving a phony contract.

Freida Webb was charged with four felonies last month.

Soler was credited by supervisors with improving the county's program for cultivating women- and minority-owned firms.

He drew criticism from Abele's administration in May for backing a plan to limit eligibility for a small-business assistance program to firms with gross income of $4 million a year or less.

Abele favored broadening the program to include businesses making up to about $22 million.

Soler's replacement, Ruben Anthony Jr., was announced Friday with only scant mention of Soler.

"The county executive and I would also like to thank Nelson Soler for his service to Milwaukee County," a letter from county administrative services director Don Tyler said.

Abele's staff declined to discuss the reason for Soler's departure.

The article goes on to say that Abele might have fired Soler because of the fact that Soler didn't kiss his butt. It could also be that Abele fired him because he wanted to get revenge on the County Board for firing Kimberly Walker, the former head of Corp Counsel. The difference is that there was ample evidence that Walker was corrupt and inept, while Abele offers no explanation on his firing of Soler, other than he could because of the plutocratic take over.

Of course, this is just the latest in a long line of firings by Abele, most of them done without explanation or a valid reason. The growing list includes:

Three months after Abele fired Burton, the courthouse catches fire. A year after Abele fired Black, Abele can't find vendors to work the beer gardens. A few months after firing Busalacchi, county taxpayers get put on the hook for an extra $9 million due to mishandled contracts. After Lucey leaves, the mental health complex fails audits by the feds and the state and it is learned that Abele is trying to dump our most vulnerable citizens into unsafe situations. And after Farley is fired, the next director of administration starts threatening and trying to boss elected officials.

Y'know, for someone that keeps touting the desire for efficiency, he's the most inefficient person I've ever seen.